Dental Implants for Missing Teeth

Interviewer: All right. When it comes to kids and teeth, we often worry about cavities, but when it comes to maybe parents, older individuals, there's a problem that could be more common than you think. So joining me now is Dr. Bidra from UConn Health and you were telling me that missing teeth all together is a lot more common than we think. Dr. Bidra: Absolutely. As a prosthodontist, you know, that's our specialty in taking care of patients who are already missing teeth or who have damaged tooth structure. The statistics show that people over the age of 65, 1 in 3 people are missing all teeth in their mouth and about 176 million Americans are missing at least one tooth in their mouth. So as the prosthodontist, it's a big deal for us. Interviewer: I said to the doctor during the commercial break, I said this is one of my biggest fears. I'm very sensitive about my teeth. It took a long time, a lot of work and braces, and metal in my mouth. But you said if it does happen, you do lose a tooth in this day and age, it's not a big deal. There's a lot of things you can do, and I think that's what you brought to show us. Dr. Bidra: Absolutely. I always tell to my patients, losing a tooth in the year 2015 is not such a bad deal like losing a tooth in 1980s or 1990s because of innovation and advancement in science and technology. So there are some models to show. These are, you know, these are what dental implants look like. This has been transformational for our specialty and the whole of dentistry. If somebody is missing all teeth in their mouth, in the past . . . Interviewer: Show in our camera right there. Dr. Bidra: In the past, patients will only get upper dentures. This has been around for over 100 years, but today we are able to install only four implants and replace all teeth in patient's mouth. And this is what a lower jaw would look like with four implants. This is what an upper jaw would look like. This is a permanent teeth. This is something which a patient will not remove from their mouth. Interviewer: And talk to me about this process because you were saying you walk in the morning without and you leave with a brand new set. It's quick. Dr. Bidra: Absolutely. In fact this is . . . And this is backed by good quality evidence, scientific evidence. In fact, people even have trademarked it. They call it teeth in a day where a patient walks into your office with badly broken down teeth and we, prosthodontics, we're able to remove all the teeth, install four implants, and attach this bridge, being able to screw this in. So the patient walks in at 8:30, by 4:00 be able to walk home with a brand new set of teeth. Interviewer: Unbelievable. And it changes everything, you know, a good smile can change so much, self-confidence and things like that. I'm sure you know. What is your advice to people? If they do have an issue, they're concerned about something, what do they do? Where do they start? Dr. Bidra: Well, I would definitely recommend, go see a prosthodontist. First, get your mouth examined if. We're not just in the business of removing teeth. We want to make sure teeth which can be saved, we want to make sure those teeth can be saved and maintained for the rest of the patient's life. But teeth which are badly broken down or patients losing teeth because it's going to affect, you know, your bone. It's going to affect your self-confidence. It's going to affect how you eat, speak, and swallow. So we say, you know, start when you have health and age on your side, take care of yourself because we can take advantage of the good quality bone and actually basically do the treatment for you. Interviewer: And what is maintenance like once you have the new teeth? Dr. Bidra: Excellent question. We tell patients . . . This is a lifelong commitment. It's like, you know, you can't buy an expensive car and not go for maintenance. You need to go see your dentist depending upon each individual circumstance, either see a prosthodontist every four months or maybe every six months, or maybe once a year. It depends on each patient, but this requires lifelong maintenance just like your natural teeth. Interviewer: Take care of yourself. And where can they find you if they're interested? Dr. Bidra: Absolutely. At UConn Health. They can look google UConn Health Prosthodontics and also I would recommend people to go to gotoapro.org, American College of Prosthodontist website. Interviewer: Very good. Thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate you coming on in. Dr. Bidra: Thank you so much for having me here.